Telling it straight via Elle Magazine, Chez claims she “wasn’t well in the head” at the time of her brief time working on the show, adding that Simon Cowell was “right to get rid of me”.

She says: “I can talk about this because I’m OK about it now. But I went through hell and it literally drove me mad. I became so desensitised, you could say terrible things to me and I wouldn’t even think about it. I’d read awful stuff about myself and [didn’t] blink. I shut down because I didn’t know what else to do”.

She continues: “I wasn’t well in the head when that was going on, so it wasn’t going to work. But he wasn’t right not to tell me to my face. It only hit me at the beginning of 2013 that I’d completely lost myself. I’d look in a mirror and think: ‘Who the hell is she?’ I didn’t know what I thought or felt about anything, couldn’t make decisions – I didn’t even know what to eat or drink. Something was seriously wrong: it felt like a nervous breakdown”.

“I had to stop” she adds, “get out of my life I’d been living and find myself again. The consequences if I didn’t were just too frightening”.

As previously reported, Cole was wiped from ‘X-Factor USA’ after filming only one episode, apparently because the show’s makers were afraid her accent wasn’t making sense to American viewers. Years down the line, her all-new accepting stance over the incident may relate to the fact that she reached an out-of-court settlement with ‘X US’ producer Blue Orbit in late 2013, having sued the company for lost earnings and expenses earlier that year.

That, and the additional point that she’s now ‘riding high’ again, with a new LP on its way, a chiseled French lover who brings her roses, and her prime place back at the British ‘X-Factor’ table. Plus, she doesn’t “give a fuck what people think any more”. Which always helps.

A US judge has given Cheryl Cole’s lawyers access to contracts between ‘X-Factor’ US makers Blue Orbit and the judging panel on the first series of the show – Simon Cowell, LA Reid and Paula Abdul – as part of the Girl Aloud’s attempts to sue the telly firm for a neat $2 million.

As previously reported, Cole began legal action against ‘X-USA’ last year. The singer, of course, moved with Cowell from the UK version of the show to the American edition when it first went into development, but was dropped as a judge before the programme ever aired.

Cole says that, while she was paid for the first season of ‘X-USA’, her contract entitled her to a fee for the second series as well, even though she never appeared on the actual programme. She also says she’s owed expenses relating to her short time working on the show.

According to the Mirror, Cole’s legal team requested that the courts give them access to their client’s fellow X judge’s contracts to help with their prep for the case. The legal agreements will not be made be public though.

One of those insiders told the tabloid: “This paperwork is a clear sign that Cheryl wants her day in court. She is pushing for full fees… $2million, legal fees and a bonus, which could total $3.5million. Cheryl will learn what Simon earned and her co-stars too. Those papers could be the smoking gun if she can show others have been treated differently to her”.

Simon Cowell could be forced to testify in a legal battle between Cheryl Cole and US TV production company Blue Orbit over the Girl Aloud’s short-lived involvement in the American version of ‘X-Factor’.

As previously reported, in 2011 Cole followed Simon Cowell from the UK version of ‘X’ to sit on the judging panel of the American version of the talent franchise, but was axed before ‘X USA’ had even begun airing, reportedly because US producers had concerns about the Geordie’s accent.

Late last year it emerged that Cole was suing Blue Orbit, the main production company behind the US version of the Syco-owned franchise, claiming that she was owed $2.3 million relating to her short time working on the show.

Much of the owed money seemingly stems from an alleged contractual promise to pay Cole a $2 million fee for the second series of the ‘X-USA’ show even if she didn’t appear on it. Blue Orbit seemingly reckons that doesn’t apply because the singer didn’t even appear on the first series of the programme. Some unpaid expenses are also included in the lawsuit.

It remains to be seen if the case actually comes to court. You’d expect a last minute settlement here, though both sides currently seem adamant that their interpretation of the agreement between the TV company and Cole is the correct one.

And, says Metro, if the case does go to court, ‘X’ chief Cowell is at the top of Blue Orbit’s list of witness to testify against Cole. Which would probably be a damn site more interesting than any of the Syco chief’s TV shows.

As predicted by TMZ, Britney Spears is to leave the ‘X-Factor USA’ judging panel after just one series. But not only that, Epic Records chief LA Reid has now confirmed that he is going too, stepping down after appearing on both series of the show Stateside.

This means that the only remaining original member of the judging panel on the US version of the show is ‘X’ chief Simon Cowell. No word as yet on possible replacements. How you’ll all sleep at night with such uncertainty we do not know.

Britney Spears will not be a judge on the next season of ‘X-Factor USA’, according to TMZ, who say that the singer departs the talent show on good terms with its makers, but has decided that she wants to concentrate on her in-development eighth album and a possible accompanying tour.

Says the gossip site: “We have unimpeachable sources who tell us Britney loves the show but wants to focus on her music … which she is doing right now. Britney is in the studio recording her eighth album, with some help from Will.i.am and producer Hit-Boy, the brains behind Kanye and Jay-Z’s ‘Niggas In Paris'”.

Cole says that while she was paid her $1.8 million fee for the first series of ‘X-Factor USA’, despite never appearing, she was contractually due another $2 million for the second series too, which her original contact included. She is also owed various expenses that were listed in that contract, including costs for wardrobe, a stylist, hotels in LA, first class flights and personal security.

Cole’s lawsuit asks for all that she alleges is owed from the ‘X’ makers, plus interest, legal fees and any “further relief as the court may deem just and appropriate”. Neither Blue Orbit nor any of the other companies with a stake in ‘X USA’ have as yet commented on the litigation.

‘American Idol’ executive Nigel Lythgoe has been busy dissing the news earlier this week that Simon Cowell has recruited American pop types Britney Spears and Demi Lovato to be judges on the next series of ‘X-Factor USA’.

Although admitting that both Spears and more recent Disney graduate Lovato have had eventful personal lives which should make them “interesting” additions to the show, he questioned their qualifications for judging and advising pop wannabes, telling E!: “I hadn’t ever considered them [for ‘Idol’]. I always like mentors who have a lot more experience. I like someone who’s been there and knows the whole gamut of what these kids are going through”.

Meanwhile Team X have had to deny various rumours that have circulated since it was confirmed Spears had been recruited for their US show, including that the popstress’s contract dictated she must always sit next to Cowell, that her dressing room demands pushed her agreement with the show’ to “a point of disgust”, and that producers plan to give the singer pre-prepared comments to deliver on the live shows, because of fears about Spears’s ability to form her own opinions on live television.

A spokesman for the show said all the rumours were “total utter malicious rubbish”, that dealings with Spears and her people had been “fantastic, productive and positive”, and that America should wait and see what the pop singer would bring to the show. Cowell apparently reckons she could be the secret weapon that could make his talent franchise top the ratings in the S.

Fox TV in the US has commissioned a second series of ‘X-Factor’. I suspect Simon Cowell is absolutely thrilled with the news, because I know he loves making the show and is always thankful to Fox and its sponsors and all the fans for supporting the programme. Let’s see what he’s got to say for himself, shall we?

“I am absolutely thrilled with the news”, says Si. “I have loved making the show and I want to thank Fox, our sponsors and most importantly the fans for supporting ‘The X-Factor'”.

We’re used to Welsh people now. They’re all over the place these days. Eddy Temple-Morris is one. As is that Steve Jones fella. You remember him, don’t you? Off of the ‘T4’. Wandering around, looking all buff with his silky Welsh tones drifting about the place. Not any more though. Not now he’s gone to America to present ‘X-Factor USA’. Americans don’t want Welsh Steve, they want British Steve, who walks about looking all buff with his Welsh tones jostling for position with some other voice not his own.

I don’t normally watch ‘X-Factor’. Like Stephen Fry, I find the emotions it exploits – awkwardness and embarrassment – over-rated as entertainment vehicles. But last Saturday night, before I left for a 1-3am DJ set in London, I was forced to switch on the US version of the show after seeing Steve Jones trending on Twitter.

Among some tweets that were just a massive release of hormones, and a sizable number along the lines of “this guy is going to annoy me”, the vast majority all said the same thing: “What happened to Steve Jones’ voice?!” Somebody in the Jones camp has obviously stuck their oar in and encouraged Steve to lose his Welsh accent as he moves to American TV, which is a crying shame, because he’s clearly struggling as a result, adding to an already awkward situation with a voice that he seems to have borrowed off somebody else.

I know Steve from years back, when we both worked at the marvellously named Pop Factory in South Wales. The former fizzy pop factory, where they had once made drinks like Corona Fizzy Orange and Dandelion & Burdock, was enterprisingly converted into a TV production facility by a brilliant producer/director called Emyr Afan, who I’d worked with before. Emyr made use of European and UK governmental funding to help launch a creative oasis in a relative desert, the Rhondda Valley in South Wales. While there, I presented two series of a great little show called ‘This Way Up’ on ITV1 Wales, the show on which I had that excruciating experience with Muse.

Emyr was not only great at seeing the potential for development in an area crying out for it, he was also very canny at spotting talent and giving it the chance to develop. The other two presenters working at The Pop Factory at that time were Steve Jones, possibly the best looking man ever to grace a cathode ray tube (or Liquid Crystal Display), and the magnificently over-endowed Alex Jones, now of ‘The One Show’.

Steve was, in those days, so young, so naïve, so buttock clenchingly thick, but so lovely with it, that you wouldn’t want him any other way. He really was one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet, and the fact that he could only dream of beating anyone over the age of eleven at Scrabble only made him more lovable. Somehow, being super intelligent just wouldn’t be fair with Steve, he’s just too good looking, as if the gods who were giving out looks asked him to skip the brains queue and stay for a triple helping of what they had to offer.

So, anyway, back to last Saturday night, and the curious case of Steve’s missing voice. The poor boy has obviously been leant on by someone, because you can bet your bottom dollar this wasn’t Steve’s idea. So WHY do you think they did this?

Could it be that in the wake of Cole-gate, the show’s broadcaster Fox is paranoid about alienating US audiences who are unable to understand a regional British accent? If so, they’re doing themselves and Steve a disservice. Because while Cole’s Geordie twang might take a little getting used to for those not already familiar with it, the Welsh accent only makes words easier to understand. It’s a very well pronounced variety of the English tongue, probably the easiest to understand of any.

Of course we’ve already been through all this, and out the other side, here in the UK. Many decades ago regional accents were simply not allowed on TV. Everybody had to speak like Harry Enfield’s hilarious character, Mr Cholmondley-Warner (pron. Chumley-Warner). By the noughties, things had swung to the other extreme, and posh accents got no voiceover work at all, you had to speak like the dude who does ‘Big Brother’ – “Porl, Jern and Meyk oor in tha smerking aaairea…”

That said, as voices moved from posh to regional on British telly, in the 1990s probably, it did sometimes feel like the Welsh accent was the one being left behind. Perhaps that was linked to the fact people from Wales were increasingly the victims of what I call ‘internal racism’ within England. Because, of course, in the UK the bias against regional accents was never to do with whether or not people could understand what was being said, but was more about the preconception viewers – and TV bosses – would form about someone based simply on how they spoke.

When I was growing up it was the Irish who were the butt of every joke in England, which I found mystifying. Without the Irish, things would be very different in this country. For starters we’d all be speaking French now if it wasn’t for Arthur Wellesley, The Duke Of Wellington. His victory over Napoleon at Waterloo insured English independence, yet the history books (written mostly by English men) seem to conveniently gloss over the fact he was Irish. But as Ireland gentrified through the 1980’s the pisstake-pendulum swung over the Irish Sea and seemed to get stuck over Cardigan Bay.

I was born in Cardiff, and my great uncles, on my father’s side, played rugby for Wales. As a person of Welsh heritage I’ve long sensed an undercurrent of ‘internal racism’ against the Welsh. And up until the marvellous Huw Edwards first read the BBC Six O’Clock News in 1999, there were no Welsh voices in the mainstream public eye. The last flirtation the UK had had with a Welshman was fairly disastrous. Poor Neil Kinnock, both Welsh AND ginger. He may as well have publicly poured petrol over himself and struck a match.

Things do seem to have got better recently, with Huw getting the most coveted news reading position in the country on the BBC News At Ten, and the aforementioned Alex Jones being groomed for chat show stardom via morning TV. But this Steve Jones thing has got me thinking about this all over again. I really do hope the edict for Steve to adopt a more neutral voice on American TV didn’t come from the UK-end of the ‘X-Factor’ operation, from some English person deciding that the Welsh accent sounds too stupid for a US audience. Did Simon Cowell stand there, with his daft flat-top hair and trousers pulled up to his hideous moobs, and tell the most gorgeous man on TV to lose the Welsh accent?

And even if the ruling did come from US TV bosses, while that might be less surprising, it’s still a stupid rule. With an increasing number of British TV presenters popping up on shows over there, surely even American viewers would welcome a bit of variety in how those people speak. Though, I suppose, the decision – whoever made it – has had an upside for the all new ‘X-Factor USA’ on this side of the Atlantic. Because Steve’s attempts to cover his natural accent sound so ridiculous at times, everyone is talking about it, and therefore the show. To the extent that even I ended up watching a bit of the programme. And I even heard my marvellous Xfm colleague Dan O’Connell talking about Steve’s voice, and its unknown whereabouts, last week.

But if this is a battle that can’t be won, if all British TV presenters are going to be asked to neutralise their accents if they want to work in the States, no matter how bizarre it makes them sound, well here’s an idea: why not just make them all do their best New York private detective impression and be done with it? Or maybe, for international promotional purposes, all Brits – you and me included – should have to mask their true voices.

And then we could swing back right the other way and have Mr Cholmondley-Warner presenting every show on TV… “Helloo, end hwelcome to thee ‘Hex-Fector’, en engaging end edifying televisual progrum thet discarvers telent in the most hunlikely uf pleeces”.

‘X-Factor USA’ isn’t even on TV yet, and already it’s being sued, which is quite an achievement.

‘American Idol’ supremo Simon Fuller is suing Fremantle Media and Fox, respectively the producer and broadcaster of the new ‘X’ franchise, over their failure to credit him as the new show’s Executive Producer, and their failure to pay him a fee for fulfilling that role.

In their defence, Fremantle and Fox have pointed out that Fuller isn’t the show’s Executive Producer, and isn’t involved in the new programme in any way, and therefore they don’t see why they should credit him or pay him any money. Which seems pretty reasonable. But, says Fuller, his lack of any actual executive producing is simply not relevant.

This all stems from the previous legal battle between Fuller and ‘X’ boss Simon Cowell, the former arguing that the latter stole his ‘Idol’ format, added some boot camp nonsense, and called it ‘X-Factor’, in doing so causing the premature demise of the UK version of ‘Pop Idol’, ironically the show that had made BMG A&R man Cowell a TV star in the first place.

That dispute was settled in 2005 in an out of court settlement. A key part of that deal was an arrangement to ensure ‘X-Factor’ wouldn’t launch in the US for five years, ensuring that Fuller’s lucrative ‘American Idol’ show could continue, with Cowell as a judge, without a major new copy-cat competitor. The deal also, according to Fuller, included a promise that if and when ‘X’ did eventually come to the USA he’d get a production credit and fee, despite not being actively involved in the show.

Fuller’s new lawsuit adds that Fox, which will broadcast both ‘American Idol’ and ‘X-Factor USA’, was actively involved in the 2005 settlement. But, he claims, now both Fox and Fremantle, which will also work on both ‘Idol’ and ‘X’, are refusing to give him his credit or pay his fee. A spokesman for pop impresario Fuller told reporters: “Mr Fuller has prudently attempted to settle this matter privately but the other parties have refused to honour the original contract leaving him no other choice but to pursue legal action”.

Fox and Fremantle are currently sticking with their ‘but he’s not involved in the show’ line, saying in a statement: “[Fuller has] not been hired, nor performed any duties, on the US version of the ‘X-Factor’. His suit seeks payment and credit as an executive producer despite his neither having been approved by the required parties, nor hired, as such. The lawsuit was without merit and we expect to prevail”.

Significantly, Fuller’s lawsuit does not target Cowell or his Syco company directly, despite that meaning the former 19 Management chief is now suing the broadcaster and producer of his own ‘Idol’ show, though, of course, Fuller’s direct involvement in the ‘Idol’ franchise is much less these days since he stopped working for his old company 19, now part of CKX Inc, and set up his new business XIX Entertainment.

Nicole Scherzinger has denied claims made be her former manager that bosses at ‘X-Factor USA’ always intended the former Pussycat Doll to be a judge on the show, and that they initially brought in Cheryl Cole as a publicity stunt, always intending to axe her.

Officially Scherzinger was originally recruited to co-host the US version of the programme, but was moved onto the judging panel after Cole was cut from the show. But the singer’s ex-manager Jeff Haddad recently claimed Scherzinger was always going to judge, but had to wait on the sidelines why show bosses went through with the Cheryl Cole escapade.

But speaking on US radio show ‘Kidd Kraddick In The Morning’ this week, Scherzinger said Haddad had never been involved in her talks with ‘X’ chiefs, who didn’t even know who he was, and that everything he said about Cole was untrue.

Scherzinger: “I was very hurt by that [claim]. But it goes to show how much he doesn’t know. The people at [show producers] Fremantle, and all the powers that be, have no idea who he is, because he was never involved”.

So, it’s official, Cheryl Cole has been axed from ‘X-Factor USA’ and will not be returning. As expected, former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, originally set to co-host the show, will take over from Cole on the talent show’s judging panel. Brit telly presenter Steve Jones will host the programme on his lonesome.

In a rather straight forward statement, the show’s makers said: “Nicole Scherzinger will be replacing Cheryl Cole on the judging panel of ‘The X Factor’. Nicole will join Simon Cowell, LA Reid and Paula Abdul on their search across America to find the next global superstar or group to win the life-changing $5 million dollar recording deal. Nicole has previously joined Simon Cowell as a guest judge on ‘The X Factor’ for the UK version of the show in 2010. Steve Jones will act as sole host of ‘The X Factor'”.

Simon Cowell hasn’t had his people issue a statement about Cheryl Cole being axed from ‘X-Factor USA’ because he is still trying to get her reinstated, Simon Cowell’s people have said in a statement.

Actually, it was good old Max Clifford who told the BBC this weekend that Cowell is still busy negotiating with network chiefs at Fox in the US to try and get Cole back on the American version of his telly talent show franchise.

Clifford: “Simon’s position is clear – he wants her to be on the show if that’s possible. The reason Simon hasn’t said anything [since Cole returned to the UK] is because he has been working to try and make sure she is on the show. But obviously there’s other important people involved in this decision in America and they’ve all got to be happy”.

Implying that Cowell wasn’t entirely in the loop himself regarding decision making on the US version of ‘X’, the publicist continued: “Hopefully the situation [regarding Cole] will be clarified as soon as possible, because it’s been as clear as mud for the last week – but talking to him a couple of hours ago, I think that’s a pretty fair summary of where we are”.

Clifford was speaking to the Beeb after a News Of The World report that speculated Cole would be back on the judging panel at the ‘X USA’ auditions by the end of this week, following her dramatic departure from the fledgling show last month.

As much previously reported, some expected the axed Cole to run back to the UK version of the programme, but then ITV announced its judging line up for 2011 without the Girl Aloud. There have been rumours the singer is also in talks with the BBC about judging on the UK version of the ‘Voice’ franchise, which will come to the Beeb later this year.

Clifford also denied speculation that Cole’s sudden axing from the US ‘X-Factor’ show had been some sort of elaborate publicity stunt.

]]>http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/cowell-still-lobbying-for-cole-to-return-to-x-usa/feed/0Cole may turn down X-UK return over treatment on X-USAhttp://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/cole-may-turn-down-x-uk-return-over-treatment-on-x-usa/
http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/cole-may-turn-down-x-uk-return-over-treatment-on-x-usa/#commentsFri, 27 May 2011 10:55:14 +0000http://www.thecmuwebsite.com/?p=29843

So Cheryl Cole was almost certainly pushed from her role as a judge on ‘X-Factor USA’ it seems, even though neither the ‘X’ machine nor the Girl Aloud star have commented on her sudden departure from the new American version of the pop talent show.

Insiders are saying US TV bosses wanted a number of changes to the ‘X’ format after early auditions, and losing the least famous (in the US) judge was among them. The tabs reckon Cole only found out on Tuesday that she’d been axed, and has now fled back to the UK where she is getting over the high profile rejection.

It is widely assumed ITV would gladly welcome her back to the British version of the programme, but some are speculating that she is so angry with Simon Cowell and his Syco team for failing to fight her corner in America that she’ll likely turn them down.

So, according to TMZ, Cheryl Cole’s big move to the USA is over. The gossip site reckons she is to be axed as a judge on ‘X-Factor USA’, with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who was set to co-host the American version of the talent show, now set to take her place as a judge.

Reasons given by different media for Cole’s sudden departure from the show, which has only just gone into production, include that she was homesick, that she didn’t “gel” with fellow judge Paula Abdul, and that test audiences just couldn’t understand that funny accent of hers.

Whether this will mean a return for Cheryl to the UK version of the programme remains to be seen – ITV bosses will probably be pleased if it does, insiders there have expressed concerns that three judges were set to be replaced in one go.

It’s not exactly been a very well kept secret, but it has now been officially confirmed that Cheryl Cole will be part of the judging panel on the new US version of ‘X-Factor’, seeing her and Simon Cowell both leave the UK edition of the show. Former Def Jam head LA Ried will also be forced to sit through thousands of performances by wannabe pop stars, while Cowell has said that he would like Paula Abdul to complete the line-up. The show is due to begin in September.

Former Island Def Jam exec and now full time ‘X-Factor USA’ judge LA Reid has admitted it’s hard not being on the inside of a major record company anymore.

Talking to MTV he said: “I loved the artist roster that we created at Island Def Jam and I love the company and yes, it was difficult. It still is difficult. This morning I heard about a remix that Rihanna did with Britney Spears [for ‘S&M’] and I was like, ‘It’s the first time some music has been done that I wasn’t involved with and I don’t know if I like that or not.’ I don’t know”.

He added, somewhat tongue in cheek: “I don’t like anybody tampering with my Rihanna. Doesn’t matter [what the song sounds like]! I didn’t do it. No, I think it’ll be great, but it was very difficult to leave. It wasn’t difficult to decide to do ‘X Factor’, it was difficult to walk away from this amazing roster and amazing staff of people and all the executives that were there that was tough”.

Of course gossipers reckon Reid really stood down because of upcoming changes at Island Def Jam parent company Universal Music, and also that he’ll likely join former boss Doug Morris over at ‘X-Factor’ owning Sony Music anyway, so shouldn’t be out of an A&R role for too long. ﻿

Talking of the ‘X-Factor’, The Fergster, as I’m pretty sure Will.i.am doesn’t call her, is apparently a contender for one of the judging roles on the all new US version of the show.

As previously reported, ‘X’ man Simon Cowell and former Universal exec Antonio ‘LA’ Reid have already been confirmed as judges on the new US version of ‘X-Factor’, while Reid recently seemed to confirm rumours Cheryl Cole will also cross over to the American show. But what about judge number four? All sorts of pop names have been linked to the role.

Cowell admitted to reporters that Black Eyed Pea Fergie was being considered, but added that so were numerous other (mainly female) pop types, and that producers were really struggling to pick between them. Whether anyone has asked Fergie whether she’d do it I’m not sure, perhaps when Cowell calls these days you’re not given a choice, you just fit it into your schedule.

With rumours Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan and Cowell’s old ‘Idol’ compatriot Paul Abdul were also in the running, Cowell told reporters last week: “We are still having nightly arguments with everyone, trying to get everyone to agree. If you asked everyone involved on this show who they would like on the panel, you would have 25 different opinions. It does show publicly our complete and utter indecisiveness”.

We’re not supposed to know who the judges on the US version of ‘X-Factor’ are going to be, except the already announced LA Reid and, of course, that Simon Cowell fella. But Reid has seemingly let slip that Cheryl Cole will definitely be making the jump to the Stateside version of the show.

The Mirror quotes Reid as saying: “We’re gonna compete against ‘American Idol’ just fine. I’m very confident. But along with Simon Cowell and Cheryl, I don’t know who the other judge is”.

Back in the UK, it seems that Cole’s arch nemesis Lily Allen will not be replacing her on the judging panel. Responding to rumours that she had all but signed up for the UK edition this year, Allen said via Twitter: “Nice to know that I’m 80% confirmed to be a judge on ‘The X-Factor’, anyone thinking about running it by me?”

She added: “I’ll only do it if there’s a ‘pop songs in a foreign language’ week”.

Universal Music yesterday confirmed that recent recruit Barry Weiss will now head up its US division Island Def Jam, taking over from LA Reid, who announced his departure from the music major earlier this week.

As previously reported, Reid has officially quit Universal to join the US version of ‘X-Factor’ as a judge, though some now wonder if he took that role because he knew he was being eased out of his IDJ job now that Lucian Grainge is in charge at Universal Music. Some are also wondering whether Reid will ultimately end up working for ‘X-Factor’ co-owners Sony Music, possibly taking over from Weiss, who recently left Sony to join Universal.

As well as being Chairman and CEO of the Island Def Jam group of labels, Weiss will also head up the Universal Motown Republic Group, which includes the Republic, Motown and Mercury labels. He will not, however, sit above Universal’s other big US division, Interscope Geffen A&M, with its chief, Jimmy Iovine, still reporting directly into Grainge.

Veteran American record label chief Antonio ‘LA’ Reid is set to leave his job overseeing Universal Music’s Island Def Jam division in order to become a judge on the all new US version of ‘X-Factor’. According to Billboard, although no official announcement has been made, sources have confirmed to them that Reid accepted an invite to appear on the new talent show earlier this week, and he intends to leave his IDJ job to do so.

This, of course, has led to speculation that Reid will subsequently join Sony Music, the major which owns half of the ‘X-Factor’ franchise through its business partnership with Simon Cowell. If he did so, he’d be part of an expected exchange of executives between the two major record companies.

Reid would join his former boss Doug Morris at Sony, and possibly fill the gap left by Barry Weiss, who recently made the opposite move, from Sony to Universal. It’s thought that after Reid’s departure, executive responsibility for IDJ will be included in Weiss’s new remit at Universal, although the division’s President Steve Bartels will continue to run it on a day to day basis.

Cowell himself wouldn’t reveal anything about the ‘X-USA’ judging panel when asked about it earlier this week, though he did tell MTV: “It’s gonna be a balance between guys and girls, and it should be a balance between people who have been singers and also, like me, have worked behind the scenes and know what they’re talking about. It will be the best judging panel so far. I promise you: If I get the people I want, I’m really happy”.

There was more speculation this weekend that both Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole will be missing from the next UK series of ‘X-Factor’, as both commit to judging roles on the new American version of the show.

Louis Walsh had previously indicated both Cowell and Cole would be appearing on ‘X-Factor USA’ and therefore not have time to judge on the UK programme, though it is thought ITV bosses are eager to not lose two judges in one go and negotiations are therefore ongoing.

The latest tabloid speculation, though, is that Walsh might not get a look in either. The News Of The World says that, facing the prospect of losing half of their judges, ITV bosses are thinking about a dramatic relaunch of the UK version of ‘X’ with a totally new judging panel.

Word has it Robbie Williams and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who filled in for Cole when she was off ill last series, have both been approached about judging roles. As auditions are due to kick off next month, presumably ITV are hoping to have their two or four new judges in place soon.